says liberalism as we define it is what you find in government and the federalist papers and john mill and tocqueville and all these, mostly guys i'm afraid, that's what liberalism is. then you can start constructing an idea that can compete with islamists. because islamism basically says we stand for just a. every islamist party is -- justice or freedom party, just as this, justice of that. how do you, how do you offer a competing level position in the arab world that can stand up against that? i don't think we are -- throw money at our have some program or some covert action. we need to approach the issue with some sense philosophically. the reality is there's racial we can do except protect against the interest we currently have in the region. weekend for the next 30 or 40 years think about how you create

can't trace of general liberals who may someday run the country. i grew up in mexico. very briefly. mexico was a horrible backward authoritarian place with his loser presidents, and all of a sudden you get guys like fox and calderón, and where did they come from? they have a ph.d from the university of chicago. that's how it happened. find those 10 people, educate them and maybe some good will come 20 years down the road. >> you mentioned the justice component of a lot of these islamist parties. there's an argument that can be made that this is a response to the corruption of these you sponsored regimes. i would say that in the case of gaza which you mentioned, rob, that was a very series component. any thoughts how to combat that or includes this in the right direction?

>> for the record i'm against corruption. [laughter] , good, good, good. >> wanted to clear that up. yes, look. it goes back to the point i thought it made in my remarks that islamists didn't win and non-islamists lost, whether they were the former corrupt regimes or the divisions among the non-islamist parties today, they lose. they lose by screwing up the delivery of services. they lose by being so corrupt. they lose by being ossified. they lose, and i islamists are there like they been for eight years to take advantage of whatever opportunity, violence or through nonviolence. we didn't discuss their relationship with violence and nonviolence just a very important issue, and they are there like vultures to reap the benefits, to reap the kerry and of these regimes. we can build, we can help them, healthy alternatives build

better alternatives. >> we have a question in the far corner over there. >> yes. i'm with the center for national policy. thank you or the debate. my point here is that there's been suggestion by some of the panelists that once islamists come to power, via ballot box, they won't give up power. and we will have sort of renewed dictatorship types in the middle east. but the events in egypt over the past few weeks suggest that you have a new politicized class of people who are not going to take that. so i agree with one of the previous questioners that in some respects this is quite healthy, that you are going to have these deep debates and divisions within the arab world or the muslim world, and people are not going to accept dictatorships like they had in

the past. so i was wondering if the panelists could comment on that? >> if i could say, the point i was trying to stress on the comment on egypt in the report would put out about managing change in egypt, there are these multiple centers of power. they are out in the open. this is an early stage of the game. as rob cited the last presidential election results, there's this desire for different multiple centers of power. so the task here in washington is going to be very difficult to convince her u.s. government to change the way it has done business for 30 years because a lot of the strategic and current imperatives drive our security. how do you actually play the right role of engaging your? it's not naïvely giving money to liberal groups and things like this are not having a strategy. i do believe that this is a significant test inside of egypt. it's an encouraging sign, and i think, this is my prediction and

were rob and others may disagree, is that it's going to force islamist political parties at least elements of the to change their ideology, if the system remains open and that's the big if, if there's a big debate i don't see it going backwards in terms of the diversity we see in egypt as large as it is it's hard for me to imagine that going backwards. >> okay, we are going to move to our closing remarks and we're going to go in reverse order, so bret, you can have two minutes to make a final plea. >> yeah, in 1979 jean kirkpatrick wrote an influential article, dictatorships and double standards, in which it was argued what is now i guess the paley a meal composition i find myself increasingly attractive to. that the united states would be better served supporting him if

necessary, not always but if necessary, secular authoritarian regimes against totalitarian alternatives. now, totalitarian alternatives then as now often can come to power by means of democratic or populist movements, but just because they come to power that way doesn't mean they governed that way. i think that's a distinction worth keeping alive in our minds today. i love to imagine that now the political space, you know, these terms that only washington, political space has been open for new forms of competition is baloney, okay? it's the french revolution, jim said it right, start with the tennis court, now entering the terrorist age, let's pray for thermidor. because we are announcing a process of a, the process of

totalitarianism coming into to many middle eastern, middle eastern countries. it's important to recognize that for what it is. it's important to see who these guys are. it's important not to deceive ourselves by the come in all kinds of the rainbow brite of shades, they do, okay? it's black, gray, or very, very dark blue. so that's what i would urge people to think about. one last point because my mind is on -- of course to say we need to learn about bob and these guys, locke's second treatise of government comes out of -- who argues for monarchy. and monarchy is looking better and better in the middle east. if there's one country that seems to have figured it out, so far, is morocco. and maybe that should be a model for other places in the region as well. >> thank you, bret.

brian. >> my basic arguments for our side of the debate, an argument for reality of opening your eyes and seeing where we are today, two years into these uprisings and these changes. and in a region of the world just narrowly focused on the middle east which has about 20 countries, you have seen political change at least the leadership in four of them. in two of those countries we've seen islamist forces come to power through the ballot box. in the two others, islamist political parties are playing some sort of role, more marginal in libya. we are at the start of the process, and i think our response from washington has been very sort of philosophical and intellectual but not very operational. i think this process is moving forward. if you look at the demographic and social or economic pressures, in some of these countries political islamist forces will come to power.

they will face competition from other non-islamist forces. they will face competition and others. politics are becoming much more complicated in the middle east, and what worries me the most in washington just down from the capitol hill is that we ourselves don't have a functional political discourse about her own issues, let alone how do we respond in clear strategic ways being the best in the region. i think the region is in for a long, a longer period of time of changes than central europe face. i think america should play an important role in this. but right now i think our voice has been largely muted by internal divisions, by some ways that we do business in a government and outside of government, that's awesome. the main argument is it's up on us, and more is coming. changes coming. some of that will include islamist forces to figure how to best use our power to shape and influence them. >> thank you very much.

on iraq, an extra bonus points if you can believe that -- >> a couple of close in points. first, we we think a luckily, made out to say myself, i think generally weak tend to project a certain bigotry of low expectations on muslims in the arab cultural world. which is those of us who are of various religious faiths here, we know the extent to which we practice our faith to this or that religious prescription, and we now that we've all pretty darn sure but we think muslims, they all pray five times a day, they never touched scotch. they all do, you know, every commandment that is in islam,

and, of course, they all submit to the will of their local imam, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. doesn't work that way. muslim practice in general is not so far different than practice here. and muslims want to be political the way we want to be political. let us not fall prey to the bigotry of low expectations that they can't make reasonable choices about their own political organization. and that there were, if you fall prey to the, you will accept the proposition that islamism essential, unavoidable, inevitable, malarkey. it is not unavoidable. it is not inevitable. what in politics is unavoidable and inevitable? it's not the case. and it's certainly not essential that if we want to defeat the great ideology that jim spoke about this morning, we want to defeat that great threat, it's

certainly not essential that we embrace victory of people who have that ideology. because then what does that mean about us? it means that we are vanquished in the face of that ideology. so it is not essential. let us try to defeat it through the means that we know, the ones we've used in the past against other ideologies. and we know it works. we will find men and women in these parts of the world who will be our partners to spend okay, last but not least, reuel spent i thought rob was sort of making my argument for me until the end. do you know your writing is psychopathic? [laughter] i strongly, i strongly recommend that you read jeanne kirkpatrick's dictatorships and double standards and also recommend you read my good friend bob higgins demolition, of that essay later and

commentary. i would just say this. i'm, he knows what he's talking about when he says democracy is a cancer. it's spreading to the muslim body politic. and that it is perhaps the number one thing they fear. ayatollah in iran knows what he says that we've got to kill off democracy, because in iran where they have a fraudulent democratic system, the process of actually going out to vote created the earthquake in 1997 and created even greater earthquake in 2009. there is not a single cleric, single first rate cleric in iran with exception of ms. biotic who will argue against democracy now!. i don't have enough time there to explain, to name all of the individuals who are diehards, revolutionaries, diehard anti-american islamist in iran

who have fallen away because of the actresses of the theocracy. we don't know what the evolution will be under a democratic system as opposed to the dictatorship. but under dictatorship we have seen a complete falling away of the intellectual class towards a democratic ethic. if they're desperate election in 2009 we would not have to worry about iran today. we wouldn't have to worry about the new. i suggest you that the jousting ethic of the democratic process will give you a better chance of evolution than using under to get a ship that we might not have to wait that long to see that evolution happened. >> but there wasn't a free election. >> there was, but even not having a free election you have enormous evolution occur amongst people who were at one time diehard revolutionaries. i suggest that evolution will be greater under a democratic system where you just have as

much voting as you have in iran. >> we have to leave it here. please give a round of applause to our panelists. [applause] >> i think writers institute is something that's very important within the culture. we borrow a culture of words -- we are a culture of words, of voices. words are our imagination, our capacity to envision things. we ourselves do not completely tied to print on the page. but i think that there's no other art form so readily accessible other than perhaps --

[inaudible] but it is something, there is something in literature that just captures the human spirit spent this weekend join booktv, american history tv, and c-span's local content vehicles as we look behind the scenes of the history of literary life of new york's capital city, albany. today at noon eastern on booktv on c-span2. and send at 5 p.m. on american history tv on c-span3. >> you are watching c-span2 with politics and public affairs. weekdays feature live coverage of the u.s. senate. on weeknights watch key public policy events. and every week until it's nonfiction authors and books on booktv. you can see past programs and get our schedules at our websites, and you can join in on the conversation on social media sites. >> japanese forces attacked pearl harbor bringing america into world war ii.

veterans and their families marked the anniversary of the world war ii memorial in washington, d.c. the ceremony include remarks by the vice chairman of the joint chiefs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> [inaudible] >> their name lived forevermore. let us pray. almighty god, creator and sustainer, we offer to you endless libations of thanksgiving and praise. today, we remember a time of great tyranny in our world. we remember world war ii. we also remember those who stood their ground against great tyrannies, those who fought here

at home and on the battlefront, to ensure that tyranny would not prevail. we thank you that in the hour of need, you gave men and women the strength and resolve to stand, no matter the cost. may those brave souls who still remain here with us feel today your hand of fever and strength. for those who remain with us today received and renewed hope and awareness of our gratitude for their bravery and sacrifice, we ask for your unceasing grace and bountiful blessing on them and their families. now, lord, we covered your wisdom on our lives journeys and your strength as we forge forward, committed to building superlatives global unity and

peace, amen. >> ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. our first speaker today is represented as a cohost for today's ceremony for the national park service, mr. robert vogel, superintendent of the national mall and memorial garden. [applause] >> good afternoon. on behalf of the national park service, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the world war ii memorial, which is dedicated to the valley of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who fought in that war.

as the superintendent of the national mall and memorial park, i have a true honor of serving as the custodian of this memorial. and that ensuring that the story of the brave men and women who fought in world war ii is told to the millions of visitors who come here each year. we are very pleased to partner with the friends of the national world war ii memorial. and i'd like to thank general kicklighter for his continued friendship and partnership. we and the national parks service share in your mission to ensure that the legacy and sacrifice of world war ii veterans are not forgotten. i typically like to thank admiral winfield for being here today, and we appreciate all of your service, incredible service to our nation.

and we are very honored that you take time out of your very, very busy schedule. i understand that he just got off a flight just a short time ago from afghanistan to i think that's at least a two or three hour flight. but it was important for him to be here today. and we are all honored and gracious that you here with us. you know, there's many honors that come with my job, but there are none that mean more to me than taking part in ceremonies like this that take the time to recognize the importance of our brave men and women in uniform, both today and in the past. to all the members of our armed forces and the veterans who are here, i am deeply honored and humbled to spend pearl harbor day with you. but i'd like to especially acknowledge our world war ii

veterans who came here today, and say, welcome to your memorial. [applause] >> there is no tribute, no commemoration, no honor that can truly match the magnitude of your service and your sacrifice. but you do have a nation's banks, and is the moral was conceived and built as a way to express our nation's gratitude to the 16 million men and women who met and defeated the greatest threat the world has ever seen. more than 400,000 men and women gave their lives in that fight, including the more than 2300 who were killed at pearl harbor alone. they are all remembered here on the field behind me.

this memorial is meant to ensure that their sacrifice will be remembered in perpetuity, when our children and our grandchildren visit this place, this memorial, they will learn about what it means when we say that freedom is not free. hopefully it will inspire them to also serve their country. we in the national park service tried every day to honor the sacrifice of the men and women who served in world war ii, by caring for this wonderful memorial and by educating our visitors about the importance of world war ii in american histo history. and as the proud son of a world war ii veteran myself, i am personally honored to be interested with this. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, sir.

ladies and gentlemen, at this time is my honor to introduce to you the chairman of the board of the friends of the national world war ii memorial, lieutenant general make kicklighter. [applause] >> good afternoon. thank you for joining us as we commemorate the 71st anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor, and the beginning of world war ii. we want to welcome our very distinguished guests today, admiral sandy winfield, vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, our keynote speaker. were also honored to have with us general px kelley, former commandant of the marine corps, also chairman of the american battle monuments commission who played a major role in helping establish his very special monument. [applause]

>> also come it's always good to have superintendent bill vogel, our cohost for this to work together. a special honor to have and he's with us, director of -- dan hayes with us, director of the film "honor flight" which many of you will be able to see tonight at constitutional hall. there are many, many other distinguished guests have come today to help give it there is osha welcome to our honored guests, pearl harbor survivors, and all of our world war ii veterans, and your families. and a very warm welcome to all veterans and all their families that are with us. and a special thank you to those serving in our armed forces and their families. what a magnificent job they've done in iraq, and are doing in afghanistan. their performance of duty has been magnificent. we can't say enough about those brave men and women, our hero's.

we pause today to remember and honor all the men and women who, 71 years ago today, we're safeguarding our nation at pearl harbor and other military facilities on the island of oahu and hawaii. at 7:53 on sunday morning, 1941 without warning, the japanese launched a massive air attack against pearl harbor and other military bases on the island. when the attack ended, almost 3000 americans have lost their lives. a total of 21 ships were demolished, and 188 aircraft were destroyed. most of those aircraft were destroyed before they could become airborne. after the attack, president franklin delano roosevelt stated

that this day, december 7, is the day which will live in infamy. and it has. we gather to remember that attack on pearl harbor, and honor those who received the blow of that first strike. and also remember and honor all those who served in world war ii. it's my pleasure today to represent the friends of the national world war ii memorial, an organization that is dedicated to ensuring that we always remember the greatest generation and their service, valor and sacrifice. and all those who served on the homefront. to achieve this we worked very closely and proudly with the national park service, and with the department of defense to bring events like this throughout the year and band

concerts throughout the summer. this memorial is a very sacred place. where we come to visit, to remember, to reflect, and commemorate the defining moment of world war ii. and to honor those who serve both on the battlefront and on the homefront, and the families that were left behind. this memorial honors the more than 16 million men and women who serve in our armed forces during world war ii. and more than 400,000 of those men and women never returned home. and the additional millions that supported the war efforts, from america's arsenals of democracy on this homefront. world war ii generation fought

the most destructive war in history. they fought that war against great odds. not only did they fight and win that war, and say this nation, but they literally saved the world. this nation will never forget our world war ii veterans, all of our veterans and their families, and especially those who gave all their tomorrows. as an 18 or 19 year old, all of your tomorrow's comic is a very high price to pay so that we can live in this strong, free and beautiful america, that we are proud to call home. god bless our world war ii veterans, their families, bless all of our veterans. we pray that god will protect those serving in the armed forces, and the families they have to leave behind. god bless america.

thank you very much. [applause] >> we are privileged to have with us here today members of united states marine band grand quintet that will now perform a musical patriotic salute to our veterans. ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ ♪ [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, how about another big round of applause for the united states marine band.

[applause] >> at this time i want to introduce to you the producer, director of the film "honor flight," mr. dan hayes. [applause] >> thank you so much to the friends of the national wwii memorial and the national park service for having me here today. what an honor to be here with all of you to remember such an important day in our history. it was about three years ago i wandered down to this memorial with my video camera right over there by the atlantic builder. and as a world war ii veteran -- asked a world war ii veteran a pretty simple question. i said how is your day going? he looked at me with the utmost sincerity, with his eyes, and he

said i could die a happy man now that i've made this trip. that answer was the beginning of an incredible journey for me. it served as an inspiration to make a documentary about communities across the country that have pulled together, since these veterans now in their 80s and '90s, on a trip to d.c. to see their own memorial. these trips were called on their flights. as many of you know, on the flight is a nonprofit organization started by earl warren here with us today, and jeff miller. it flies world war ii veterans after to see this beautiful memorial at no cost to the veterans. they fly from 117 cities from across the country and have flown over 100,000 veterans to date. for the past two years my business partners and our team have followed the veterans and volunteers from the stars and

stripes on the organization in milwaukee. it's my honor to direct your attention to the to world war ii veterans that are here with us today. they are amazing guys who have also become my very, very good friends. i first like to acknowledge julian, and his daughter, julie. can you give a wave? where is julian? julian served in the navy as a cook, and also on the unit for he buried both japanese and american soldiers. he is a published poet. next i want to tell you about joe. who is a company today by his wife. say hi, joe. [applause] many of the now joe, but you might not know why. this picture was taken of him in 1945 in "life" magazine. it was called the human skeleton, weighing only 70 pounds, after suffering and a

not a prison camp and the photographic and one of the most iconic images of world war ii. it's only fitting that today is joe's 87th birthday. [applause] >> joe and julie and stories have been submitted to by patrick and the veterans history project and the library of congress, so for years and years researchers and documentarians can find it is envious and use those stories for the future projects. these two men represent the less than 2 million world war ii veterans living today, men and women at all across the world, to defend and protect not only our country from harm, but something much more fundamental. our freedom. freedom is this big lofty ideal. a word that is used a lot in washington, d.c. but i sometimes wonder if it is lost. when joe was liberated, there was another pow and a cadre

right next to him, and he died, that soldier died a day after the liberation took place. the wall behind me remind us all that many paid the ultimate price. those who made it home hud to their families can return to work and hardly ever talked about the war again. this memorial has allowed the world war ii veterans from across the country to open up and share their stories. sometimes for the first time ever. on the day he was liberated, joe was asked about his experience in appealed to the camp and he said he learned two things. he learned to pray in a prison camp, from here on out every day is a bonus. everyday is a bonus living in this country of freedom and opportunity. that's what i've learned in my experience making this film, spending time with the men and women who fought in world war ii. to paraphrase the chairman of stars and stripes, to all the veterans were here today, who will never ever forget your

legacy. we will never ever forget what you did for this country, and our mission to the network and to some is to continue to share your incredible story. first, to our families and our neighborhoods, communities, we promise that by visiting this memorial, and seeing our film, children in this country will know the price of freedom and what you did. tonight, we begin to fulfill that promise as we join 2500 people in the constitution halt to continue to honor the service of our world war ii veterans, with a special screening of the "honor flight" documentary that tells the story of joe, and julian, as well as others, the daughter and wife of one of the veterans in our field if we will never ever forget what you will did for this country. thank you very much for having me today. [applause]

>> it's now my girlish introduce our keynote speaker at admiral sandy winfield. admiral winnefeld is serving as the ninth vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and america's second highest ranking military officer. admiral winnefeld received his commission to enable rotc program. he flew the f-14 tomcat. he taught at the weapons at school. admiral winnefeld commanded among many commands fighter squadron to 11, uss cleveland, the uss enterprise leading the big the enterprise through combat operations in afghanistan immediately following the terrorist attack september 11, 2001. as commander of the uss theodore roosevelt carrier strike group,

he led task force is in support of operation iraqi freedom. he also has commanded the u.s., united states six fleet, nato ally joint command in lisbon. is sure to was included service on the fleet forces command, joint forces command, to was on the joint staff including being a g5 aid to the joint chiefs of staff, and executive assistant to the vice chairman of enable operations. he commended the north american aerospace defense command norad and u.s. northern command before becoming and being selected as vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. admiral winnefeld is a highly decorated combat leader. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admiral sandy winnefeld. [applause]

>> well, good afternoon, everybody. great to see you general kicklighter. great. mr. hayes, to see which guests, good afternoon. what an honor it is to be with you all here today. what an honor it is to stand in front of these wonderful world war ii and pearl harbor veterans. i can tell you that as i was listening to that wonderful rendition of america the beautiful, it struck me what a wonderful idea america is, what a wonderful place america is, and all of you who fought for her so long ago, we deeply appreciate what you did for us back in the 1940s. colonel breen, chaplain, members of the color guard, marine band, friends of the national wwii memorial, members of the national park service, thank you

all for helping us to recognize this very, very important day, and some very, very important people. indeed, i offer a very special welcome, to all of our world war ii veterans, their families, and oliver pearl harbor survivors were here today. many of whom have traveled so far to be here, and we thank those who made that travel possible. nice shoes, by the way. we really appreciate it. we pause this afternoon to remember the tragedy that struck pearl harbor on that now infamous day 71 years ago. when our nation learned in horror japanese forces had shattered the peaceful hawaiian naval border, killing or wounding over 2400 americans, and wrecking a good portion of our pacific forces. indeed, the tragedy at mark that

morning was an unimaginable event that shocked our nation. but it also stirred a quiet and peace loving people into action. we honor the bravery service demonstrated by so many people, so many americans, and people from other countries in that conflict. so it's appropriate that the memorial honoring the service and sacrifice of so many in the conflict is our setting for today. the 4048 gold stars behind me represent out over 400,000 killed or missing in action as a result of world war ii. serving as a wonderful backdrop for the we will lay this afternoon, and reminding us that here on this sacred ground we mark the price of freedom. today, our militaries involved

in another conflict half a world away. as a result of a different surprise attack on american soil that killed nearly 3000 of our fellow americans in one day. there are ties between these two events in the wars that followed. one of which is as the seventh uss enterprise was on her way back to port at pearl harbor. on december 7, 1941. and would later launch the first u.s. strikes of the war against japan at the marshall islands. the current uss enterprise was also on her way home on the 11th of september 2001. just over three weeks later, she would launch the first strike against al qaeda and the taliban in afghanistan. now imagine yourself a board uss

enterprise on the night of those first strikes. here's part of what her captain told her crew. good evening, shipmates. the last time americans actually went to war to defend against our homeland was almost exactly 60 years ago. when our threats and her enemies conducted a surprise attack on pearl harbor. during that attack, a different enterprise was at sea on her way home. it was ultimately a response to that typical bloody task of soundly defeating her enemy. and ever since then, when america has gone to war, is to protect freedom and our vital interest, those of our allies. we have not had to defend our homeland since december 7, 1941. however, september 11 our enterprise was at sea on her way

home during a treacherous new attack on our country. tonight, a ship named enterprise will again be an integral part of our nation's response. and, like 1941, this war is a little more personal in defending our vital interests. we are defending our families. now, the electric ceiling -- electric feeling among the ships crew had to have the feeling felt by so many people in the front row today for the first action in world war ii. and i just want you to know that there's a direct connection between your heroism and your service and heroism and service other wonderful men and women in uniform who have struck back in this war with the same bravery and perseverance that was in your service and work were to, exemplified by your presence here today.

than men and women who today where the cloth of our nation, walk confidently in your footsteps. they look up to you, specifically to you. they leave your legacy as members of the next greatest generation, and you should be proud of them. i know you are. and i know i am. but today we tossed to honor you, and to honor the memory of those we lost in world war ii. we salute those who won that war and paved the way for our nation's prosperity and leadership over the last seven decades, and in this christmas season, made "it's a wonderful life" possible for the rest of us here in the audience, including myself and my family. and i would say it's made this nation prosperous, and it will for a good deal longer in the future than some actually be.

memorials like this beautiful memorial which we are having the ceremony, its days of remembrance like this, try as we might, we will never be able to adequately recognize your service and sacrifice. but we can thank you for what you've done for our nation. we can thank you for your service. we can thank you for being with us today, and we can thank you and your families and your supportive friends being with you here today. and we can thank all of you who are gathered here today for your continued support for your nation's military. god bless our men and women in uniform, and their families. god bless the united states of america. we thank you so very much for your service. [applause] >> thank you very much, sir, for

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